Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Friday warned opponents and the media not to write him off in the wake of his party's defeat in the recently-held assembly polls in Maharashtra.

"I am like a tiger who is wounded, but will definitely retaliate one day. I may have been confined to a cage but don't dare to tease me," he said addressing the traditional Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park in central Mumbai.

Asserting the Sena will stage a comeback, Thackeray said the responsibility for the party's defeat in the assembly polls lay with his own men, the Marathi manus (the Maharashtrian population).

He also accused the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party combine of resorting to malpractices like luring voters with money power to win the assembly polls.

On the issue of non-Maharashtrians, he said, those who had migrated to the metropolis before 1995 were welcome, but it was essential that the non-Maharashtrians integrate themselves with the culture and ethos of Maharashtra.

Thackeray said the Sena is not against the non-Maharashtrian population but accused them of maintaining a separate identity thus attracting the tag of being outsiders from the Sena.

He pointed out that some of the first persons nominated by Sena to the Rajya Sabha were non-Maharashtrians, including Chandrika Kenia, Ram Jethmalani, Pritish Nandy, Sanjay Nirupam and Mukesh Patel.

Pointing out that a number of non-Maharashtrians have also been included in the state ministry, Thackeray said this was possible only in Maharashtra, which is a melting point for various cultures and communities.

He, however, warned that the Sena would not tolerate non-Maharashtrians resorting to a hate campaign against Maharashtrians.

"This is our state and we will not allow you to conquer it just because you are in greater numbers," the Sena chief said.